Canton Defense Leads Way To Class S Final

REID WALMARKSpecial To The Courant

In CIAC Class S girls final next weekend, it's Canton vs. Thomaston

WATERBURY — Canton reached next weekend's CIAC Class S girls basketball final on Friday night because its switching zone defenses disrupted Notre Dame-Fairfield's offensive flow for most of the semifinal at Wilby High School. But getting to the foul line for more than twice as many shots as the Lancers played nearly as important a role in leading the Warriors to a 10-point victory.

Canton, of the NCCC, will meet defending champion Thomaston in the title game on Friday or Saturday at Mohegan Sun Arena. Thomaston is 2-3 in title games; Canton is 0-2 in finals

"I told everyone last year that we'd make it to the finals this year," Canton coach Brian Medeiros said between games. "Everyone said I was crazy, but I knew what we had coming back.

"I wanted to play Notre Dame in the final. I didn't want to play them before that because I knew about their size and what they do. [Notre Dame coach] Eric DeMarco is a friend of mine; we coach on the same AAU team together."

Strong boxing out and overall aggressiveness in the lane helped Canton overcome its disadvantage in the paint. Notre Dame, which sustained its first loss this season to a Class S team, missed nearly two dozen shots from close range, few of them with wide open looks.

The Lancers kept coming up empty down low in the first quarter when Canton forged a 13-5 lead with less than two minutes to go. Notre Dame responded with an 11-2 run that left Canton trailing 16-15 midway through the second quarter. The Lancers were led by Kayla Croswell, who scored 11 of her team-high 15 points in the first half and rarely was contained.

The first half ended in a 20-20 tie. But Canton took a 34-27 lead into the fourth quarter. The Lancers rallied and it was tied at 40-40 with 2:53 remaining in the game. Canton's free-throw accuracy temporarily disappeared with five straight misses, but Maggie Treacy (12 points) ended the drought by converting from the stripe for a 41-40 Warriors lead with 2:15 left.

From there, Canton made four more in a row from the line for a 45-40 cushion with 1:27 to play. Easy baskets after Notre Dame gambled for steals produced the final margin.

"They did a real good job of making us struggle offensively," DeMarco said. "They were alternating between a match-up zone and a conventional zone. They just made more plays consistently than we did."

Medeiros said the Warriors started out in a 2-3 match-up zone and finished in a 3-2 match-up. He said Canton's strong foul shooting was huge.

"I knew if we got to the line, we'd have a big advantage there," he said.

His advice to the team before the game was to "embrace the nerves," Medeiros said. "I told them to play through the mistakes. I said there'd be no sulking today, that we've got to stay positive."